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As a Signy Fid I was fortunate to be one of the few who enjoyed a sledging and camping trip on Coronation Island, but I felt I'd missed out on the doggy-experience Fids had at other Antarctic bases, and was determined to rectify it. Then by chance in 2015 I watched an episode of 'The Dog Rescuers' and saw how a husky called Tala, who had roamed free in Sweden for weeks, ended up taken in by a husky farm in Finland. Their love and care for their dogs shines out of their website, and that clinched it - I was going dog sledging for 5 days in Arctic Finland.
- A 5-day, 197km guided husky safari across Arctic Finnish tundra near the Norwegian border
- Each guest drives their own team of 5 dogs hitched to a centre trace
- Daily distances of 30-52km, with the longest day taking around 9 hours
- Overnight stays in heated cabins and saunas; huskies sleep in the huts to socialise for future adoption
- Author John Edwards is a former British Antarctic Survey 'Fid'
Arrival at the farm
Fifty years on from first going South with BAS, I got off the bus at Enontekio, whose tourism slogan 'remote but reachable' was certainly true in my case. Straight away we were ushered into the veterinary store where, surrounded by four recuperating huskies, we were given a hot drink and cake, had our gear checked for suitability and were issued with arctic clothing. We then had a quick tour of the farm as it got dark and were off outside again with head torches to give the 170 dogs their evening meal and water. It was almost 10pm when we returned to the Kota - a cosy traditional building with a central fireplace and underfloor heating - where guide Laura cooked us salmon pasta. Two huskies were brought in to spend the night with us, to help socialise them and prepare them for possible adoption once their sledging days are over.
Meet The Fids
There were to be a line of seven toboggan-type sledges, each pulled by five dogs hitched to a centre trace. My sledge was 4th in line, but I decided a BAS-style name was more appropriate, so 'Sledge Scouser' was pulled 197km across the Arctic whiteness by 'The Fids' - a team of five dogs I got to know and love.
My lead dogs were Nomad, a quietly mannered Alaskan husky, and Buddah, the 'looker' of the team with lovely white and gold fur and a vulpine face. My swing dogs were two-year-old brothers Samson and Shadow, black and white Eurohounds bred for speed. Samson, much more vocal, was probably my team favourite as he made me laugh every day. My one wheel dog was a Nenet Laika called Aknil, who I nicknamed 'Fat Bastard' at first but who turned out to be a really valuable team member and my second favourite.
Into the wilderness
We set off into the uninhabited far north in lovely weather around -13C. Most of the trails had been compacted by snowmobiles, which prolongs the sledging season. The farm maintains a very detailed mileage spreadsheet, updated daily, so that dogs that could do with a rest and those that need more action can be picked out easily; this is one of the ways the 5-day Safari teams are selected, along with age, strength and thickness of coat.
We crossed high treeless tundra near the border fence with Norway, reaching a cairn at 1,750ft where we stopped for oxtail soup, and passed through large herds of reindeer being tended by the Sami. Our longest day, St David's Day, was 52km and took nine hours, including the steepest climb of the trip and an adrenalin-inducing descent.
Cabins, saunas and the aurora
The huts were a wonderful surprise - one night so palatial it had electricity, shower, sauna, TV and eiderdown duvets, with a three-course meal at the nearby garage restaurant. Other nights we slept in more primitive state-owned cabins with a stove and a side hut serving as a sauna and water-melting facility. Several nights, huskies spent the night in the hut with us to help them socialise; one of the weirdest, most memorable nights I've spent had three dogs lying on me at once.
We enjoyed repeated aurora displays, with the best on my final night in Enontekio - silently shifting green curtains directly overhead.
About Hetta Huskies
Hetta Huskies is run by Pasi Ikonen, a ski wilderness guide and ex-Commando Border Guard, and Anna McCormack from the UK. They met on the start line of the 827km Raid Gauloises 2000 in Tibet, married in 2003 and moved to Hetta two years later, starting the dog farm and safari business in 2008. On Christmas Day 2008 Pasi became one of the first Finns to complete an unsupported expedition to the South Pole.
The farm is run on very 'green' principles, is a partner of the Leave No Trace Centre for Outdoor Ethics, and has been graded 'Certification-plus' - the highest possible grading - by the 'Mush with Pride' kennel inspectors. They were awarded Gold in the Animal Welfare Category at the 2015 World Responsible Tourism Awards, take in local rescue dogs, and have a policy of never euthanising a healthy dog. It was such a great holiday I've plans to go back in 3 to 5 years for another trip.
